Water-Cooling Systems Roundup: 16 Systems Reviewed

[TechZ]

Today we are going to offer you an unprecedented collection of 16 water-cooling systems from such well-known names as Asetek, Aucma, CoolerMaster, Gigabyte, Promodz, Thermaltake, Titan, Zalman and 3RSystem. Find out what systems are the best buy for the buck today from the most extensive roundup out there!

If you were using a traditional air cooler through the winter and were quite satisfied with its noise and performance characteristics, you may find yourself having to increase the fan speed in the warmer weather to improve the cooling. The noise from the cooler increases at that, too, probably up to an uncomfortable level.

LINK: xbitlabs.com

[bone]

crap, didn't notice it was the technology section, and i was expecting an intersting topic

[Overheat]

I personally think water-cooling is dead in the water (heh) - with HSFs as good as the Arctic Cooling Freezer Pro for such a tiny percentage of the price of water-cooling - there's little value in it in my eyes.

[Kip_6666]

I've got this kit:

http://www.1a-cooling-shop.de/shop/index_set99eur.htm

Its quiet, cools better than any hsf out there, and neat to brag about :p


But seriously, it is expensive, and while it does cool better it by a slim percentage, and its hard to tell if that little percentage is worth it.

I've had it for quite a while now, since the athlon xp days, with new platforms you normally have to get a new hsf while i could just keep using the set. But then on the other hand you can get boxed cpus for a fraction more, and the hsf you get with those are fine.

[TechZ]

Only 2 reasons now to go watercooling IMO

1] You want a totally silent setup, watercooling gives you that

2] You want to OC.

Now, for me, the former poses a much better choice than the latter, I dont OC.

[Shadowness]

I was hoping my system would be on there, but it aint. Im using a Koolance Exos external water cooling system. Its awesome! I can OC my athlon pretty high. My cpu idles at about 35C, which might seem quite high, but the PC is in a corner and under a desk, so theres not much circulation!

[Vette Boss]

At it's current state, watercooling isn't really better than a good heatsink and fan combination. When you look at the risk of a water leak taking out your whole rig, it's something most people would rather avoid. With a good heatsink and fan combination and a fan controller, you can have a very quiet system that is stable 24/7. Crank the fans up and you're ready for some OC-ing.

Both cooling systems, air and water, have extremes, silent air-cooling doesn't perform as well and neither does silent water-cooling. Water cooling doesn't really help with OC-ing unless it's a set-up with loud fans, a well-thought air-cooling set-up will OC just as far.